Sequels are a daunting prospect. The idea of following a successful film while financially appealing, can prove to be a creative risk which can put off viewers and leave a black mark in the careers of all involved.

Yet if a successful sequel is an almost impossible feat, then a threequel is even more so.

The following are some of the best and worst threequels that have been released.

INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989)
With Temple of Doom freaking people out with its dark themes and gross out moments, Steven Spielberg wisely strips back the gloom and doom, heightens the adventure, and paired Harrison Ford with Sean Connery for what many believed was a fitting finale to a great adventure saga.

EXORCIST III; LEGION (1990)The Exorcist II was a cluster fuck of such massive proportions, that any mediocre follow up would have been a success. But Exorcist III was more than some cash in. Under the direction of original author William Peter Blatty, a truly menacing and frightening horror movie was presented. Studio interference saw it fail to reach the greatness it should have achieved, making it a flawed yet underrated gem.

STARS WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983)
Technically the sixth instalment, but let us forget those prequels, shall we? Return of the Jedi doesn’t reach the same heights as its two groundbreaking predecessors, yet it is still an epic adventure tale that many would kill to emulate and a fitting end to the intergalactic saga. As for those complaints about Ewoks? Well, boo-fucking-hoo!

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING (2003)
Bookend to the most lauded of trilogies saw The Return of the King snag 13 Oscars, while providing viewers with a conclusion fitting for a king (get it?) It’s multiple faux ending have become a thing of parody. The rest, near perfect cinema.

THE WORST

JAWS 3-D (1983)
Has the term “jumping the shark” ever been so well placed? With no Steven Spielberg and none of its original cast, Universal Pictures got desperate (or innovative, depending how you look at it), and had their famed monster Great White shark break the limitations of 2-D, while tearing apart any status of credibility.

MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME (1985)
Things began well and then...here comes Tina Turner and a group of grunt kinds. “Mad” Max gets promoted from reluctant hero to saviour. George Miller loses his grip on the series, and turns in a film which had its fans thinking back to the rev-head charged splendour of its previous instalments.

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)Gone was Tim Burton’s grand gothic vision, only to be replaced by Joel Schumacher and his love for pastels and bat-nipples. Gone too was Michael Keaton, and while replacement Val Kilmer was serviceable in the cape and cow, it just wasn’t the same. The lone saving grace in Batman Forever was Jim Carrey’s OTT turn as The Riddler. Too bad he was paired with a ham fisted Tommy Lee Jones.

THE KARATE KID PART III (1989)The Karate Kid was a moving tale of an underdog who fights against adversity with the help of a gifted teacher. The Karate Kid Part III featured a spoiled brat warped in his own ego, facing the same ol’ adversities in the previous two films, without having learned a thing or providing a glimmer of class its originator possessed.

SUPERMAN III (1983)
God bless Christopher Reeve. He had to have known that Superman III was bound to be a turkey after Richard Pryor signed on as the comic relief. Yet he stuck with it, even when Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder jumped ship. Good thing too, because this threequel needed more than Superman to save it.

RAMBO III (1985)
Sylvester Stallone’s ego transformed what was a moving story about a Vietnam veteran’s struggle to fit in with society, into a joke of an action series that would go on to become a source of parody for years to come, with Rambo III the worst of the bunch.

THE ANTICIPATED

BATMAN 3 (2012)
Christopher Nolan has begun work on the follow up to The Dark Knight. Speculation is ripe as to who will take on Batman, with many expecting a Riddler / Catwoman tandem. A confirmed 2012 release will see all questions answered.

TRANSFORMERS 3 (2011)
Michael Bay stumbled quite considerably with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. His promise to deliver with this third instalment has been met with cynicism. Shia LaBeouf will return, Megan Fox will not. Filming is currently underway.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (2010)
The C.S. Lewis penned fantasy series has taken on a new lease of life on the big screen, with its two adventures thus far more than holding its own. Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a new film under a new studio, promises much of the same.